SAO: A Tamer Tale
by Sullwyn
Summary: Reese thought she was going to enjoy a normal, relaxing, stay at home vacation. That is until she finds out the new game system and game arrived just in time for the Japan launch. Follow her adventures as she struggles to escape a game that proves to be an adventure of a life time...but will it cost her, her very life?
1. Chapter 1: Vacation

November 5th 2pm

 **Chapter 1**

"Hey there Reese!"

Reese looked up from her smartphone, and gave a small smile, her cigarette in her mouth.

"Hey there Mack. How's it going? Got anything other than bills for me today?" She exhaled her smoke and flicked the ashes into the cool autumn wind.

Mack, an older gentleman with a warm smile, walked over at his usual pace. The local mailman was in an exceptionally chipper mood today it seemed. Reese sat there on her porch steps, noting his expression she raised her brow, apparently bills were something to be excited over, since that was all she seemed to get these days.

"as a matter of fact I do Miss. Reese. You got a package today!"

Reese inhaled her cig."A package for me? I'm not expecting anything for at least another week."

Mack reached the porch. Reese stood up as he rummaged through his little push cart of letters, magazines and adds.

"hmm, let me see here...ah! Here it is! I think its that game you were talking about the other day. The one with the nerves and swords thingy." He pulled out two boxes and a paper and pen. Reese inhaled once more her cig before flicking it out and into the street. Walking towards Mack she eyed the packages. One was smaller than the other. The larger one looked like it could hold what she ordered but she wasn't sure till she was able to see the label. At a glance she saw it was all in Japanese. Both boxes. Excitement began to build up inside her.

 _Could this realm be it? But, I didn't expect to get it for another week. If it is, it couldn't have come at a better time!_

"well, I figured this was that game you were all excited about, seeing as the only time you get anything with this weird writings on them is when you get your new video games. So if you could please sign here for me I will let you get to it" he chuckled a bit and smiled.

Reese, laughed as she signed the papers. "its Japanese Mack, and yes it probably is my new game and system. I just wasn't expecting it for another week or two. But if it is I sure am excited. I'm on vacation for the next two weeks and with my girl out of town I figured I was going to be doing alot of sleeping. Well, thanks Mack, you have a good day alright?"

Mack began to walk off and laughed as he called out over his shoulder. "just remember to eat something other than chips and candy. See you tomarrow!"

Reese waved and looked at her packages as she walked back into her apartment. She grabbed her pocket knife and began to cut open the tape. She set the box down on the table and stared in shock. Indeed it was her new NerveGear system and the other box must hold her new game, Sword Art Online.

"YESS!" She yelled and began to do her pathetic victory dance. Once done, she quickly took everything out and found a single piece of paper. It read _Launch begins at 1pm JST. Congratulations on winning a copy of the console and game. We look forward to your review. Thank you for your purchase._

 _Sincerely_

 _Kayaba Akihido Contest Staff_

Contest? She didn't remember entering a contest when she reserved the game and console. Reese threw away the boxes and didn't bother to look for directions. Systems were usually the same hook up. After setting up the game in her room she looked at her clock.

 _Well, looks like I've got time to call my girl and take a nap before logging in._

November 6th 12:55am

Reese laid in her bed, feeling relaxed after a warm bath and a good dinner. She grabbed the head set of the NerveGear and put it on. She turned it on and double checked it was connected to the outlet and that everything was set up.

Exhaling she laid her head down and looked through the visor. Her stomach felt full of butterflies.

"Link Start!" She said into the night and was nearly blinded by the white start up screen.

She completed the character creation and smiled as the game's logo popped up. After that she no longer felt like she was in the real world. Now all she saw was a large black obelisk type structure ahead of her.

Looking down she saw her hands in their gown tattered gloves, and she looked around, left to right as other people were all logging in. She smiled.

 _This is it, I am going to have the adventure of a life time. This is going to be the best vacation ever._

This began the day, which many would never forget, and some, would never live again.

Hello readers!

thank you for taking the time to read this story. Its something new for me, trying a new hobby lol. Anyways, disclaimer, I don't own Sao or its characters. My characters are mg own and I thank the author of Sao for letting us use the story for our own I will update as often as I can, I currently work 2 full time jobs so please bare with me. I hope you enjoy it so far. Please feel free to comment, review, etc. Have a wonderful day!


	2. Chapter 2: A Vacation Most Foul

_**Chapter 2: A Vacation Most Foul.**_

"Woooohoooo! Yeah! And another one bites the pixilated dust!" Reese laughed as she balanced her spear across her right shoulder. The last few hours she had spent in total bliss. First she ran around town like a kid in a candy shop. Then, once she made sure she was fully equipped with health potions from the Town of Begging's vendors, she had set out to begin completing the local fetching quests. She was getting the hang of the game mechanics. She felt exhilarated. It wasn't like other console or computer games. This world was fully immersing you. She felt as if finally she was like all her characters, or the characters she read about in her favorite fantasy novels.

As she completed her quests she had over heard some people complaining about the lack of magic, or an archer class. This really didn't bother her too much. Although the archer class was normally up her ally. To her, magic was over rated. But an archer class, well that would have been her normal gaming style. Pick off enemies from afar, kite them around a bit. Set off some traps. Get the occasional angry PM from new players who happened to be in the way and catch agro by mistake. Yeah, that was always fun. Sorta.

As the sun began to set in game, she found a tree over looking a hill, and leaned against it.

 _Damn if these guys didn't get the artwork down pact._ She thought. She ran her hand through her short black hair. Completely taking in the scenery.

The field was peaceful. Yellow flowers grew in patches. The occasional boar or wolf, grazed and stalked. They walked thier predestined paths. The sky was a beautiful sunset, of deep reds, oranges and a hint of purple. She closed her eyes, listening to the rustling leaves, the distant battle crys, the occasional howl or squeal. If only the mundane world of bustling cars and people could ever be as tranquil as this.

 **DONG! DONG!**

 **DONG! DONG!**

Frowning a bit she sighed. _Of course even in a virtual world these perfect moments are ruined._ She thought. "Well, better turn in these pelts for that quest." She said to herself. Turning around, she froze mid step, as her body began to shimmer and a blue light engulfed her. "What the hell?" She said as she was teleported back to the town's center.

After the glare of light, she blinked and looked around. People were abuzz as the center became full of the 10,000 people who were currently logged in. Everywhere people were being automatically transported.

Ever the optimistic, she grinned. _Must be an opening day event or something. Super rad._ She thought. Seemingly unfazed, she tried to suppress the nervous feeling in her chest. She gripped her spear a bit tighter and placed her left hand on her hip. Everyone was talking loudly. _So many people._ She thought. _Ugh, people._ Not that she was a loner or anything. She just didn't like people.

The crowded center began to hush as the sky took on a bloody red color. Blinking in the sky was a prism shaped box that read _**System Announcement**_. Then the entire sky filled with these prism boxes. Slowly, as if seeping through the leaking cracks, a dark, almost blood red mass, congealed together. It began to take form in a massive cloaked, faceless figure.

The faceless figure began to speak, identifying himself as Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of the game and the only person with control over the game. I stood in shock. A sense of excitement filling me. _The. Best. Game. Ever!_ She thought to herself. That was until he happened to mention a no Log Out option. "Wait...what?" She said out loud.

No one seemed to have noticed her speak. Quickly she waved her hand before her, the game's character UI materialized out of thin air. Sleek and modern. She began to rummage through her options, her settings, anywhere she could to search for this eluding Log Out button.

As she flipped through her screens, the figure announced to the players that he had purposely removed it from the game, as another one of its features and thus, trapping them in the game.

"What the hell you mean we are trapped!" Someone cried out.

"Its ok, my mom will just disconnect the game like she does everytime for dinner." A girl said to someone next to her.

As if overhearing the girl's remark, the figure explained that of the 10,000 people, over 200 had already been manually logged out, thus killing them. He put it rather eloquently, but Reese just heard nothing but a mad man talking now. Around him, screens popped up like annoying add pop ups. Each a different country's news broad cast. One amongst them was Reese's home, showing her body being taken away in a stretcher.

By this point, Reese stood frozen. Her excitement gone. All she could do was stare, blankly, as the mad man explained something about thier brains frying if manually removed.

 _Ok...ok...think positive, it can't be so bad, they can figure out how to get it off me..._

"...only way is to beat the boss on the 100th floor..." He continued ominously.

"Clear the 100th floor! Even the beta testers didn't get past 20!" She heard a man distantly yell.

"If you die in game...you die in the real world..." The figure continued to explain.

 _Well...damn..._ She thought.

Having no longer paid attention to the figure, she noticed people opening up thier menus. Then as if people were spontaneously combusting in blue flames, people screamed and shouted in angry protest.

" A mirror in the inventory?" A man next to her said aloud. Then, a small , rectangular hand mirror appeared in his hand. The tall, dark, muscular man erupted in a flash of light next to her right. Gasping she saw the man...change...he no longer had the barbaric look of an over enthusiastic body builder, but was a, a young boy in his teens possibly and a little bit on the husky side.

Somehow, the mirror was in her hand, she must have equipped it by mistake as she was looking for the log out button earlier. She looked at the small mirror in her left hand unintentionally and gasped as she felt her body reform itself. No longer was she the buxom, short haired woman with black hair she created. But now, she was, herself. A young woman, in her late 20s, with shaggy dark brown hair that was over grown from her last 'dapper' hair cut. Her green eyes, slightly tan skin, and glasses all appeared. She shrunk a bit in height, back down to her average, and her body was now her regular athletic build.

After the transformation, the mirror shattered, and the massive figure disappeared.

It wasn't long after, that total mayhem ensued. People began screaming, crying, and shouting in rage.

It is said that people are built with natural survival instincts. It's a fight or flight. Even in this modern day and age, man still succumbs to these, almost Neanderthal, urges. Preservation for one's self. In that moment, she knew, this vacation became a matter of life or death.

 _I feel like I would have been safer playing Jamanji_. She thought.

Looking around her, no one but a few were making thier way out of the masses. The looks on thier faces were a mixture of emotions ranging from emotionless, to rage, to silent tears. But their eyes all reflected thier determination. Thier fight. Reese decided that she would fight. Once more looking at the sky, with its once tranquil dark reds, oranges and purples. Forever tainted with the image of a mad man, and his bloody, congealed mass that dripped from that very sky. Turning around, she gripped her spear that rested on her shoulder and set forward into the very town she just hours before thought was nothing but beautiful pixels.

Now it was home. _MY home..._

She began to walk with purpose. In her mind, she blocked every negative thought she could to avoid succumbing to the heavy weighted depression that was plainly palpable.

Once outside of the mass gathering that had begun to disperse, she stopped outside the town's gates and opened her menu. She began to scroll through her skills and items. One in particular stood out.

"Beast Taming huh?" She said to herself. " Well, this I know how to do." She grinned. In other MMORPGS she played, her archer class had a familiar or pet. Squaring her shoulders back, and out of habit, she tilted her head side to side to crack her neck.

"Time to get a pet and kick some ass." She laughed and began a slow jog towards the golden fields of Aincrad's first floor.

...

I would like to apologize, in my Last chapter I spelt kayaba's name wrong. So I fixed it here. Once again leave me some comments. Lemme know how ya like it or don't etc. As usual I don't own SAO and I appreciate being able to use the setting. The OC is mine. I look forward to writing more for you guys and will post as often as I can. Like I've said two full time jobs. Hope you all have a great day!


	3. Chapter 3: Of Two Minds

Chapter 3: Of Two Minds

 _Squeeeee_!

A burst of distorted light. The sound of shattered pixels, as the wild boar's health reached zero. She sighed. Wiping the sweat off her brow, the usual Congratulations screen popped up. By this time she just swiped it away.

"A damn week." She said out loud to herself as she gazed across the yellow dotted field. "Seriously, this animal taming thing is alot harder than I thought. " she sighed. She waved her hand in the air, prompting her menu. It was kinda surreal to her. On one hand she was trapped in a game which was now her new reality, but actions like this, or the pixilated death, kinda broke the barrier of real vs game. It kinda helped to ground her. Mentally at least.

For the past week she did quests and grinded to level 8. She saw the skill for Beast Taming, but she still had no clue how to do it. A couple of close calls is what it cost her. She tried fighting low level animals with her bare hands. She tried traps. She tried battling them. Helping them. Nothing seemed to work. She tried touching the skill set as she engaged a beast. She let them attack her without attacking them. That just ended with her using a teleport crystal. She shook her head.

Scrolling through her inventory she counted the pelts, meat and fauna she had collected for her quests. Seeing that she had what she needed, she began her walk back to town. As she walked, she snacked on an apple she had bought earlier from the inn keeper. The whole week had been crazy. People were still getting over the whole, stuck in a death game idea. She had made it to a small town called Horunka. If she could help it, she avoided the Town of Beginnings. It was too damn depressing. Sure she was upset. Down right pissed off. This wasn't the vacation she was expecting. She worried about her real life self. Her apartment. Her girlfriend. But she had accepted things. This was her new reality until the 100th floor was cleared. So why not make the best of it?

As she walked to the road she heard a twig snap. Her ears twitched at the faint sound. She had been working on her listening skills. Which she found ironic, since all her life people told her she needed to work on that in the real world. Different applications, but she found it humorous. To her right a low growl could be heard. She grinned. _Alright buddy, you're mine._ She thought.

Stopping, she began to balance on the balls of her feet. Slowly bringing both hands to her spear. She began to charge her skill. The spear tip began to glow green. Then, out of the corner of her eye, the Gray Wolf launched from the bushes. Effortlessly she jumped back. The wolf landing where she once stood. Both touched ground. As the wolf pivoted, she sprang forward, unleashing her skill. Her spear lunging forward. The wolf snarled. Her brows furrowed in concentration. The wolf began to run toward her. She connected the thrust with its collarbone. Both stood frozen. Sighing, she withdrew her spear, as the wolf dematerialized.

Once again collecting the rewards. She shouldered her spear and began to walk off. Hearing a small rustle she quickly jumped back. The same bushes the wolf had come from began to shake. Narrowing her eyes, she looked for another wolf. The rustling got louder. Then, a most unexpected sound made her eyes widen, and her heart drop. The gentle whine of a pup. The cute beast, emerging from the growth. It howled, pathetically, and sniffed the air. Trembling as it fumbled forward. The small wolf was white and gray. It had gray markings on its snout, and above the eyes, like two animal eye brows. The white looked like stripes down its fluffy body. Her heart ached at the sight of the babe. Setting down her spear, she kneeled. Quickly she found some meat from one of her fetching quests. The baby continued to sniff the ground. It's light blue gray eyes, piercing, as it searched for its mother.

Pulling out the meat, she tore off a piece and threw it towards the babe. Inching forward,the babe found the smell of meat and began to eat. Reese inched forward as well. Each of them, lured by the meal, moved closer to one another. Reese slowly reached out to pet the pup, so not to scare it. Once she made contact, a screen appeared.

 _ **Would you like to Tame Gray Wolf Pup Lvl. 1?**_

Excitement filled her. Quickly she accepted the pup. Then her left hand began to glow a shimmering silver as she touched the pup. A small mark, looking like a tribal tattoo of a wolf appeared atop her hand. In her left top corner Gray Wolf Pup health bar appeared. Below that was two more bars. A stamina bar and what she assumed was its Happiness, since there was a smiley face on one end and a sad face on the other.

No longer able to contain her excitement she picked up the pup and held it close. Spinning and laughing in her excitement. _I did it! I finally got me a pet!_ Smiling she held the pup at a distance. The two made eye contact. Another flash, this time temporarily dazzling her. Falling to the ground, she shook her head. _What the hell?_ She thought. Putting her hand to her head, shaking off the dizzy spell.

 _::Food?::_

Reese looked around as a childlike voice rang out around her. In her lap the wolf pup looked up at her. Tilting its heard a bit and giving a small yip.

 _::Food? I hungry.::_ The childlike voice said.

Reese looked down.

"No...Fucking...Way..." The two just stared each other. The pup let off a soft yelp like bark, jumping up and wagging its tail.

::FOOD!?:: Reese's eyes widened as she grabbed her ears. "Gyahhh! ALRIGHT!" She yelled. Quickly she opened her inventory, took out another piece of meat and began to feed the excited wolf pup. Sitting there in the afternoon sun she just stared at the pup. Watching it eat piece after piece. Once the pup was done it hiccuped,and stretched out in the sun, laying next to her.

"Well bud, looks like were partners now. Lets get back to the inn and figure some things out. Like how you can talk to me for starters." She softly said, as she ran her hands up and down its side. The coat felt so soft. So real. Sighing to herself she picked up the now sleeping pup. Carrying the pup in her left, and her spear in her right, she finished the trek to the road and onwards to the small town.

...

Once again thank you for reading. Thanks to Mar'i for my first review! Seriously made me have the feel goods lol.

Hope you all have a great day and again I will post as often as I can.


End file.
